Dollhouse, 1x05, “True Believer”

Episode Title: True Believer
Writer: Tim Minear

Director: Allan Kroeker

Originally Aired: 03/13/2009
Grade: A-

I’m sure the engagement-of-the-week was supposed to be the real attention grabber, but I was much more interested in what was going on between Topher and Claire Saunders. There seemed to be a distinction between them in that Saunders cares about the well-being of the Dolls at all times, whereas Topher thoughtlessly endangers them and then gets upset at the possibility that one of them might be hurt. I do think his caring is genuine. It’s not that he’d be a little sad if one of his toys was damaged--he truly is bothered by the fact that one of the human beings he is responsible for could die because he fucked up. Topher’s mind seems like a frightening, disorienting place full of self-absorption and deeply-buried misgivings.

Also, let the Claire/Topher ‘shipping commence! You can’t even call it “sexual tension,” because she’s completely oblivious to him as anything other than an annoyance. How much of that is tempered by resentment for what happened with Alpha and the scars on her face? Was Topher into her before this episode or did he notice her “that way” for the first time here? I think previous episodes have implied that he cares for her beyond “I’m sorry my science project carved up your face,” but the moments were on the subtle side.

As for the actual engagement, I’m a little confused as to how the ATF agent was the one who wrote the note at the beginning. Upon re-watch, you can see the guy walk in front of the camera, so there’s no doubt that he was there, but the timing and positioning of the characters doesn’t really present a moment when he could’ve taken the note back from the store owner or returned it. Oh well, if they say that's what happened, then I guess that's what happened.